Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Sunshine Boy
Moosopp
New-kid Kelly is sweet but naive. Luckily, he's got his outgoing neighbor Grey in his corner.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Obelisk
Ashley McCammon
In 1908 New York, a young woman struggles to put her life back together in the wake of her father's death - until she discovers a vampire in the shambles of her inheritance.
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
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Your sexual orientation should have no bearing on which couples you ship. If it did, I’d have to be some kind of pansexual, because I like couples that range from gay to straight to cross-species to talking animals.
I’m wondering if Khrene is just incorrectly saying “ship” instead of “hit” here? Like, I’m straight and I’d still hit it! would make sense, but yeah… shipping it doesn’t really require any particular orientation.
A lot of people have this weird idea that shipping is always motivated by being sexually attracted to the characters. (The easiest way to flush out people like this is to bring up a pairing consisting of teenagers.)
That’s not really apt. Age only really enters into how society at large, law enforcement and psychology view it if the sexual attraction is being acted upon in some way or if it’s an exclusive attraction. Meanwhile, in some circles, a more than passing sexual attraction to those who are just pubescent and those who are prepubescent is considered concerning at any age, as it may be a sign of a future exclusive attraction to those of that age.
1.) That’s very silly. Morality has and will always continue to exist independent of “laws” and “society at large”. Whether or not society thinks so, it is still wrong to have sex with a teenager if you yourself are an adult. This is not because of a magical invisible line between 20 and 21, but because of very real brain development going on in the teen years. The developing brain can be manipulated by the developed brain, and that is what renders such relationships morally suspect: the power imbalance.
2.) Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve found that the age range of people I’m attracted to moves with me. I was attracted to other teens and twenty-somethings when I was a teen, twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings when I was a twenty-something, etc. Nearing thirty, people in their forties are looking less old and more age-appropriate to me.
“This is not because of a magical invisible line between 20 and 21, but because of very real brain development going on in the teen years”
This reasoning does not lead where you think it leads. It leads to a minimum age of consent of 25.
Let’s all just agree that we ship it. Age doesn’t matter ( well I mean legally it does) but I know 10 year old boys who are gay, 13 year old girls who are bi and 17 year old pansexuals.
I have the overwhelming urg to see, or possibly direct such a porno. They would be those articulating lamps, though using the coiling ones would be cheating… A dentists lamp maybe?
Haha, I wasn’t reading carefully, and so I saw “I have the overwhelming urge to see, or possibly direct, a porno.” And I was like “…you’re skipping a lot of steps there, sheltered Joyce avatar. You need to watch at LEAST four hours of porn before you can become a director.”
I dunno, I just pictured Joyce never having seen porn because it’s a sin, but convinced that she could become a porn director regardless
Living in a dorm kinda pushes one in the direction of wearing . . . underwear . . . jammies . . . SOMETHING at least. I used to sleep naked before I went off to college, but took to wearing shorts to bed after the first time my roommate invited a girl into the room when I was in bed, attired in my birthday suit for sleep.
Since you asked: The high altitude numbs your sense of taste, so everything seems more bland. Additionally, the food has to be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated to be reheated on the flight.
Really depends how it’s written. Could mean that. Probably does have the “yama” character in it, but saru could be written any number of ways and could also be sa-ru, two different characters. Names, you know? Anything goes, just like in any other language.
Knowing Willis it likely is “monkey mountain” if any thought into it’s meaning was ever given, but, at least by the Japanese to English dictionary I use online, it could also give the meaning of “last mountain” or “a particular mountain… that, of course, doesn’t include the open potentials of bad transliteration (intentional or not) or dialectual differences that dictionary doesn’t know. I’ve come across a few in manga, but my understanding of Japanese is fairly limited anyway so I’m more prone to find such things than if I understood the language better.
Reese’s are peanut butter though…I think that’s more like Snickers (which is a funnier shipping name I think). Is someone in the cast smooth peanut butter?
You’re right. In my eagerness to make a clever throwback to a very dated reference to a commercial, I have accidentally mentioned the wrong candy bar. It’s time for me to do the right thing and commit seppukku.
It should worry me that I’ll be entering the post-college job market in a little over a year, yet if someone asked me right now what being a financially independent grownup means to me, I would say “the freedom to eat breakfast Twix.”
Only if you stay in school and eat your vegies. Also helping out around the house helps you to be an aid to your family and helps you work to being a contributing member of society.
Willis has said that all characters’ orientations are the same in this universe. Jacob has (so far) only shown interest in women in the Walkyverse.
Doesn’t necessarily make him straight, but it’d be weird for a sex addict to only be addicted to sex of one gender if he wasn’t attracted to only one gender.
YES!
(I just shouted this outloud. My husband is giving me an odd look.)
Dear god, YES.
That’s it, Ethan. Surpress your inborn desires to run your tongue over every inch of that chiseled block of manmeat. More for the rest of us!
Oh yeah, I saw this coming. I guess I don’t get points for it because I didn’t call it beforehand, but between Willis mentioning that some roommate assignments were secret surprises, him hiding the corner of the finished poster where I’d spotted Jacob on the sketchy version and saying that it contained secrets, and the question, “Who could Jacob room with that would cause the most possible emotional trauma?”… it seemed pretty obvious.
Where was i for this? I was shipping him with Mike. It just seemed organic in fact I bet Mike will help Ethan through his denial the same way he has in the past.
Yeah, we need to get some other people posting in here. The Billie density is getting dangerously high. Before long, this part of the comments section will be informing everyone that it was a cheerleader in high school and trying to put drunken moves on Sal.
Oh, and since I missed my opportunity to call this development in advance, I’ll go double-or-nothing with this one: The threesome Joe couldn’t quite remember was Joe, Jacob, and some chick (I’ve got no good guesses for her identity… One of the only-background-so-far Squad 48 girls? Mary? Someone we haven’t met?). They kicked Ethan out of the room so they could get their bone on, thus compounding Ethan’s frustration problems.
That is just too perfect. I wonder if Ethan’s first reaction when he met Jacob was one of these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X4v3WmpNo8
Although it seems like Ethan does not have to do much imagining on his part.
I personally prepare it with citrus and ground hopes. Wash it down with orphan tears. The saltiness of the tears and the hopes offset the sweet and tanginess of the suffering and citrus.
I’ve been wondering the past few days who Ethan’s roommate is and why Jacob didn’t get the new main character spot in the Shortpacked banner. I now know both of those things.
So basically you were holding off the hottest dudes contest for Jacob’s introduction? It seems to me you’re just setting the other dudes up for failure.
Jacob’s the temptation Ethan deserves, but not the one Ethan needs right now. So, we’ll ship them, because Ethan can take it. Because he’s not our straight guy. He’s a silent homosexual. A watchful protector. A Jewish Chuck
Just got done watching Dark Knight, couldn’t be helped.
Alright Ethan I understand your problem and I got your soultion. Just picture Joyce whenever you see some hot dude you wanna bone. After a while, you’ll associate boning with Joyce, and all problems will be solved. I’ll take my money now please.
It would be kind of hilarious if he was a compulsive exerciser (and yes, that is a real thing). Given the nature of his introduction, and Willis’ love of making Ethan suffer, it could totally happen.
PERFECT PLAY. This is why I will follow all the Willis comics forever. The dramatic trap always snaps shut at exactly the right moment, and after the shock wears off you’re left wondering just how long the author waited to reveal this information (or, in some cases, to call back to a clue or joke that is sometimes many years old). I never expected things to be going in the directions they’re going in either comic but this one especially, and I’m totally gripped.
After so much drama, this is, like, the biggest punchline.
The concealing. The non-conspicous absence of a character (who might have been believably absent on account of not playing a big part). The setup. The everything. So very well played.
I can’t recall, is this Jacob’s first appearance in the DoA universe? Willis has so many universes it seems, so many universes with so much many man chests.
hahaha Ethan’s gonna have one hell of a hard time with this!
hmmm….. I know how I hope to see Ethan and Joyce’s relationship go down in flames! Ethan and Jacob… and then Mike and Joyce. she already kinda seems to see him as a protector in this universe and he…. seems to have avoided tormenting her. maybe it’s a silly thought…. brought on by a prolonged lack of Mike
Mike willing came with her to a date with someone that he probably knew was a very sex-driven male. He knew he didn’t have to torture her to see her burn down.
I’m slightly confused by Jacob being in college with them; Shortpacked! gave me the impression that he was younger than everyone else by several years.
He’s not the first with a different relative age, though. Robin and Leslie are the same age as the main Shortpacked crew in the Walkyverse. They’ve been aged up several years here, as Robin has to be at least 9 years older than everybody else (became a Representative at 25, and I think she mentioned it’s an election year, in the fall, so she’s been a rep for close to 2 years at least).
Looks like she does, considering she drinks in her room and enlists Billie as a drinking buddy that one time.
So, assuming that,
Joyce-Sarah
Danny-Joe
Mike-Walky
Billie-Sal
Amber-Dina
Dorothy-Sierra
Ethan-Jacob
Roz-Mary (Roz has a page on the cast list, and considering the developments going on she’ll probably be reappearing eventually)
Semi-important characters whose roommates we don’t know:
Raidah (Though it seems likely to me either Chan or Char is hers)
Beef (Most important character in all of DoA or the Walkyverse, folks, mark my words)
Burning questions:
Buckets of Blood Guy (He’s not at all important. I just want to know what poor bastard got stuck with him)
It was standard at my college, anyway, for the RA to have a single.
I’m sure that it’s always entirely safe to just ignore Beef. There’s no way that could ever come back on anyone with any lamentable consequences whatsoever.
I think Beef also has some culpability for the deaths of Mandy and Grace, since he was helping the bad guys get in and out of SEMME. And Daisy and the rest of Squad 48 were pretty broken up about it at the time.
I just came here to say that my vote for Jason as one of my two ‘hottest guys’ is Jason with his hair messed up and his bowtie undone, because *that* was the hottest thing ever. I feel like “Jason with his bowtie undone” should be a totally separate option from “Jason,” in fact.
^^;; I think Ethans about to get a good taste of what he made Amber feel like with the whole “my Barn door don’t swing that way” on prom night, because I’m not certain Jacob’s barn door swings THAT way…
OK, so although Jacob is easy to lust after, I see Ethan falling hard for Danny. He likes Danny’s hair, and Danny probably has that nerdy social awkwardness that can be so endearing. Not act on PSL for a probablynstraight and therefore unattainable hunky roommate? Easy. Not letting yourself fall in love with a sweet, likable guy whose no one else seems to notice? Not so easy.
(Maybe I’m just channeling my own coming-out-to-myself story here . . .)
(Thanks for the huge drawing of Joyce in my autographed book! I just read it cover-to-cover! The making-of comments are great. I can tell that you put a lot of thought and effort into making a quality strip. Looking forward to Volume Two!)
Every so often I use various pictures in my environment to test out new features I build in to the image editing program I develop as a hobby. This includes Dumbing of Age comics. Normally I wouldn’t bother to post one of my test images, but I felt that it was necessary to share my program’s interpretation of Ethan in the last panel.
Actually, I’ve just decided that I won’t post a link to it; I’ll just make it my gravatar. The current one was getting old anyway. Give me a moment to update.
Ha, I think it’s hilarious that Jason is beating Danny AND JOE in the poll! (I voted for Jason ironically, and also because of his name.) Joe just gets no love in these polls.
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The perfect intro for Jacob. I just about died laughing.
Heh, exactly!
Woo, JACOB! And he’s totally getting my sexy vote.
Yeah! I’m straight and I’d ship it!
lol what
Your sexual orientation should have no bearing on which couples you ship. If it did, I’d have to be some kind of pansexual, because I like couples that range from gay to straight to cross-species to talking animals.
Seriously.
I’m wondering if Khrene is just incorrectly saying “ship” instead of “hit” here? Like, I’m straight and I’d still hit it! would make sense, but yeah… shipping it doesn’t really require any particular orientation.
A lot of people have this weird idea that shipping is always motivated by being sexually attracted to the characters. (The easiest way to flush out people like this is to bring up a pairing consisting of teenagers.)
You make it sound as though there’s something strange about being sexually attracted to one or more teenagers.
Depends on your age.
That’s not really apt. Age only really enters into how society at large, law enforcement and psychology view it if the sexual attraction is being acted upon in some way or if it’s an exclusive attraction. Meanwhile, in some circles, a more than passing sexual attraction to those who are just pubescent and those who are prepubescent is considered concerning at any age, as it may be a sign of a future exclusive attraction to those of that age.
1.) That’s very silly. Morality has and will always continue to exist independent of “laws” and “society at large”. Whether or not society thinks so, it is still wrong to have sex with a teenager if you yourself are an adult. This is not because of a magical invisible line between 20 and 21, but because of very real brain development going on in the teen years. The developing brain can be manipulated by the developed brain, and that is what renders such relationships morally suspect: the power imbalance.
2.) Maybe I’m just lucky, but I’ve found that the age range of people I’m attracted to moves with me. I was attracted to other teens and twenty-somethings when I was a teen, twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings when I was a twenty-something, etc. Nearing thirty, people in their forties are looking less old and more age-appropriate to me.
“This is not because of a magical invisible line between 20 and 21, but because of very real brain development going on in the teen years”
This reasoning does not lead where you think it leads. It leads to a minimum age of consent of 25.
Um what? 16 and 17 are the legal age in some states. Those circles are fucking idiotic.
Ha “not apt” my ass.
Whoops…I thought you were saying it wasn’t limited to age. My bad.
“It leads to a minimum consent age of 25.”
Unless of course my point was ALWAYS that adults shouldn’t manipulate teens into sex, meaning IMHO two teens can have sex with each other.
Let’s all just agree that we ship it. Age doesn’t matter ( well I mean legally it does) but I know 10 year old boys who are gay, 13 year old girls who are bi and 17 year old pansexuals.
I know right! Oh god…
I wonder if he and Joe will be bond over man-whoring? XD
Truer words!
Oh God I know right? I just about choked. This is the most perfect DOA strip.
Yes! *checked the ‘jacob’ tag, just to confirm that the impact was all I thought it was*
I knew his roommate was either gonna be Jacob or Faz!
Faz would be a LOT LESS tempting, unless the temptation is to murder him, then that’s a different story.
Well my train of thought for this was “How does Willis hate Ethan? Subject him to Faz as a roommate, or subject him to eye candy?”
Could have helped explain the stupidity in regards to his sexuality if Faz had tried to explain the kinsey scale to him. XD
The great Faz makes no distinction between come-ons and murder threats. Faz finds them equally arousing.
Faz finds everything arousing. Faz would watch a 2 hour porn about 2 desk lamps.
So, Luxo Jr.?
*squeaka* *thump* *squeaka* *thump*
You know, if you close your eyes and just listen to the sound effects…
That is … sick!
They are father and son!
Not when they put on the blinds…
GAAH MY BRAIN!!
IIRC Mr. Willis’s preferred onomatopoeia for bed-sexin’ is “thumpaSPRUNG, thumpaSPRUNG!”
I have the overwhelming urg to see, or possibly direct such a porno. They would be those articulating lamps, though using the coiling ones would be cheating… A dentists lamp maybe?
Either way, it sounds like something Linkara should review.
please, this just screams cinema snob. “Clearly, they should have gone with a desk lamp here, since the scriptwriters must have written this BLIND.”
But Lamps are Linkara’s purview.
Team up maybe?
Them Pixar lamps?
Haha, I wasn’t reading carefully, and so I saw “I have the overwhelming urge to see, or possibly direct, a porno.” And I was like “…you’re skipping a lot of steps there, sheltered Joyce avatar. You need to watch at LEAST four hours of porn before you can become a director.”
I dunno, I just pictured Joyce never having seen porn because it’s a sin, but convinced that she could become a porn director regardless
In Christ, all things are possible.
“Faz, are you just looking at things in the store and saying that you love them?”
“I love lamp.”
They should made a book on why for some insane reason that Faz is still alive.
Your gravatar ain’t Azula, it must be her nega-verse twin who is totally chillaxed and cool.
If canon Azula was like Shaundi from Saints Row 3, then my grav version of Azula is the SR2 version.
<3 Azula, stoner version included!
Oh god, can you imagine Faz being attracted to males?
… you know, I think we found a way to make ANYONE asexual!
Can you imagine Faz being attracted to males?
Very easily in fact! And not only because of Ninja Rick sheathing his sword.
Instaboner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nu14L2myvE
That was… unpleasant to watch given the context of boners…
Spineless version.
i’m straight…. and i can’t blame him.
First Joe, now Jacob!? What is it with guys and being in their underwear in front of their roomies!? IT’S AN EPIDEMIC!!!
Clearly you never lived in a dorm. That is an unavoidable event sometimes. Especially after a few weeks of living together
Not if they’re like me and don’t wear underwear at all!
Living in a dorm kinda pushes one in the direction of wearing . . . underwear . . . jammies . . . SOMETHING at least. I used to sleep naked before I went off to college, but took to wearing shorts to bed after the first time my roommate invited a girl into the room when I was in bed, attired in my birthday suit for sleep.
I’ve always changed in the bathroom.
My first school had communal showers for the guys. And some of the guys found all sorts of other excuses to be/become naked.
I honestly don’t think my closest friends have seen me with pants on since High School.
What is with guys named Jacob and working out with no clothes on?
What is the deal with gay guys named Ethan and crippling denial?
And why will no one ever tell me what the deal is with airline food? It’s a simple enough question!
And why won’t they make a sequel to Shin Mazinger? And where is my flying car? I was promised flying cars! Why? Why? WHY?
Maybe they want to make Neo Shin Mazinger? also you need to wait for flying hoverboard before flying car.
Well that depends. Would you be willing to say, cut off your foot for a flying car?
Since you asked: The high altitude numbs your sense of taste, so everything seems more bland. Additionally, the food has to be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated to be reheated on the flight.
What is up with characters studying in a comic about college?
What is up with people named Dina Sarazu and dinosa-NOW I GET IT.
She’s actually “Saruyama” in this world.
Weird. I thought I typed that. I didn’t even read It’s Walky, I’m just dimly aware of it, and of her name in it.
Saru=Monkey
Yama=Mountain
so………
Really depends how it’s written. Could mean that. Probably does have the “yama” character in it, but saru could be written any number of ways and could also be sa-ru, two different characters. Names, you know? Anything goes, just like in any other language.
Wouldn’t that mean that Dina is definitively pronounced Dee-na too?
#3: http://www.dumbingofage.com/about/
I’m not sure if I should be happy to have gotten it right, or sad that my linguistic detective skills were entirely unneccesary.
I find it is unnecessary to render further response.
Knowing Willis it likely is “monkey mountain” if any thought into it’s meaning was ever given, but, at least by the Japanese to English dictionary I use online, it could also give the meaning of “last mountain” or “a particular mountain… that, of course, doesn’t include the open potentials of bad transliteration (intentional or not) or dialectual differences that dictionary doesn’t know. I’ve come across a few in manga, but my understanding of Japanese is fairly limited anyway so I’m more prone to find such things than if I understood the language better.
Now kiss
… Slowly.
Licky style.
Ohhhhh myyyyy
I’m hearing this in George Takei’s voice, I can only assume this was your intention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WahBH9sANg
Damnit Takei!
I’m sure Ethan’s temptation feels tight in his pants heheheheheheh.
oh that is just EVIL
Walky may be sculpted caramel, but Jacob is a hunk of pure chocolate.
So if I were to ship them, it’d be called Reeses’ Shipping? HEY! YOU GOT YOUR JACOB IN MY WALKY! HEY! YOU GOT YOUR WALKY IN MY JACOB!
Reese’s are peanut butter though…I think that’s more like Snickers (which is a funnier shipping name I think). Is someone in the cast smooth peanut butter?
nah, it’s like a milky way.
which sounds like a porn move…
Reeses is chocolate and peanut butter, not caramel.
You’re right. In my eagerness to make a clever throwback to a very dated reference to a commercial, I have accidentally mentioned the wrong candy bar. It’s time for me to do the right thing and commit seppukku.
Unless you can think of someone else to be peanut butter, then they can be a threesome representing those sucky limitted time Resses.
I’m pretty sure caramel and chocolate is just a Rolo packet.
Caramilk.
Now now down before my genius.
Nobody knows how they willis get the caramel into the chocolate ….
As has been pointed out, Reese’s are peanut butter.
I’m a Twix shipper myself.
Twix have a third ingredient, cookies. I think you must mean Caramello.
Twix would be Walky + Jacob + Roz. Since Roz has the nicest pair of cookies.
Twix is a Walky/Jacob/Ethan threesome.
Hot, melted chocolate covering flowing caramel and a white cookie.
Now I’m hungry.
Well that puts the breakfast Twix I have some days into a whole new perspective…
It should worry me that I’ll be entering the post-college job market in a little over a year, yet if someone asked me right now what being a financially independent grownup means to me, I would say “the freedom to eat breakfast Twix.”
Twix: the phallic candy bar.
Say…
How many do still remember Twix being named Raider?
I’ll ship that for a dollar.
Let’s see the kids in high school that sell candy for fundraisers sell THAT!
Ethan just got his own Chocolate Bear, the Scrubs fantasy shall commence.
Both high in sugars and causing you to crack some fat?
Ah, Jacob, I really missed you.
Ethan, if temptation comes your way, do this: Imagine the hot guy looking like Jeff the Killer.
Or just imagine BoB guy NAKED!
Or imagine BoB guy looking like a naked Jeff the Killer.
If everything else fails: Man-Faye!
I was wondering who his roommate was.
I thought it was Joe.
Joe is rooming with Danny, we learned that in the first chapter.
That’s Danny, fool!
I’m sorry, Mr. T. Please don’t hit me.
Only if you stay in school and eat your vegies. Also helping out around the house helps you to be an aid to your family and helps you work to being a contributing member of society.
That’s right. Teach us to be somebody!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhZRqPPTNjE
So is he clinching his erection between his legs in that last panel?
Yeah Ethan you can “totally” do this.
On both beds and against the door, maybe.
I just did a spit take and I wasn’t even drinking. Well played, Willis… well played…
DAMN
Ahahahha YES
Please make this ship happen Willis. Even though Jacob is straight.
Is that established? All we know is he’s a sex addict. This ship, though shantally built, may yet sail.
Willis has said that all characters’ orientations are the same in this universe. Jacob has (so far) only shown interest in women in the Walkyverse.
Doesn’t necessarily make him straight, but it’d be weird for a sex addict to only be addicted to sex of one gender if he wasn’t attracted to only one gender.
What else is college for but bi-curious experimentation?
Who knows, maybe he developed said addiction as a defense mechanism against his homosexual urges.
Doesn’t make a lot of sense but why not, let’s be honest we basically know fuck-all about Jacob.
…that really was not supposed to be a pun. Honest.
And so the downward spiral begins…..
Come and knock on our door…..
We’ve been waiting for you……
Where the kisses are his and his and hers,
Three’s company too!
Oh god, I nearly died laughing at that last panel. Totally unexpected, well done.
On a related topic, I need to remember not to eat when reading Willis’ comics.
I need to not read while eating Willis’ comics.
Or drink, for that matter.
And now the poll is “DoA’s hottest guy” WELL THAT’S NOT FAIR AT ALL. I MEAN LOOK AT JACOB UP THERE. No seriously, look at him. HE’S VERY PRETTY.
What, and the caramel perfection is not? Or the lovable sex machine isn’t either?
I’m still votin’ for Mike.
I wonder if Joyce will end up with Jacob once Ethan stops trying to change himself. Jacob is, by origin, a Jewish name…
So’s “Michael”. And “David”. And “Daniel”. And “Dorothy”.
(Okay, that last isn’t. I just wanted another excuse to ship them.)
That is a worthy reason.
There are already plenty of reasons that people ship Joyce and Dorothy.
And Joe, Ethan, Dina, Ruth, Sarah…half the cast has names of Jewish origin
YES!
(I just shouted this outloud. My husband is giving me an odd look.)
Dear god, YES.
That’s it, Ethan. Surpress your inborn desires to run your tongue over every inch of that chiseled block of manmeat. More for the rest of us!
Also: Yet another romantic entanglement unique to the Dummiverse!
Oh yeah, I saw this coming. I guess I don’t get points for it because I didn’t call it beforehand, but between Willis mentioning that some roommate assignments were secret surprises, him hiding the corner of the finished poster where I’d spotted Jacob on the sketchy version and saying that it contained secrets, and the question, “Who could Jacob room with that would cause the most possible emotional trauma?”… it seemed pretty obvious.
Oh, and of course this is why the “hottest dude” poll had to wait ’til today.
Where was i for this? I was shipping him with Mike. It just seemed organic in fact I bet Mike will help Ethan through his denial the same way he has in the past.
Wow. They need to have separate votes on who is the most datable, screwable, and for having the most long term potential.
Five of the same avatar. IN. A. ROW.
…I’m going to regret saying that.
Yeah, we need to get some other people posting in here. The Billie density is getting dangerously high. Before long, this part of the comments section will be informing everyone that it was a cheerleader in high school and trying to put drunken moves on Sal.
Oh, and since I missed my opportunity to call this development in advance, I’ll go double-or-nothing with this one: The threesome Joe couldn’t quite remember was Joe, Jacob, and some chick (I’ve got no good guesses for her identity… One of the only-background-so-far Squad 48 girls? Mary? Someone we haven’t met?). They kicked Ethan out of the room so they could get their bone on, thus compounding Ethan’s frustration problems.
Oh god yes. Please let Jacob be the third party in that ambiguous threesome.
I FELL TO THE GROUND LAUGHING I JUST CAN’T
That is just too perfect. I wonder if Ethan’s first reaction when he met Jacob was one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X4v3WmpNo8
Although it seems like Ethan does not have to do much imagining on his part.
Oh… Oh *my*.
Okay that was just brilliant.
…and there goes the basis for all of my previous arguments… ^^;
/hug?
It happens to us all sometimes!
Thanks. Oh well. ^^;
HAHA! YES! ETHAN, YOUR SUFFERING IS GONNA BE DELICIOUS!
How does suffering tastes like, your lordship?
I personally prepare it with citrus and ground hopes. Wash it down with orphan tears. The saltiness of the tears and the hopes offset the sweet and tanginess of the suffering and citrus.
Like chicken, of course, seasoned with the lemon juice poured over their open wounds.
The revelation of Ethans roomate was even more perfect than I imagined. Man I love fridays!
Temptation is beefy. Willis, you are a terrible person and I love you for it.
KIND OF CALLED IT.
I’ve been wondering the past few days who Ethan’s roommate is and why Jacob didn’t get the new main character spot in the Shortpacked banner. I now know both of those things.
Haha, I was wondering where our” hottest dude” poll was. QUESTION ANSWERED.
So basically you were holding off the hottest dudes contest for Jacob’s introduction? It seems to me you’re just setting the other dudes up for failure.
It does appear to be going pretty well for Jacob, doesn’t it?
Didn’t see that coming. Nice one, Willis.
Well played indeed. Poor Ethan. or Lucky Ethan?
Plucky Ethan.
Pluck-oh goddammit, Yotomoe!
I would like to think Jesus WOULD want you to spot him. It is the neighborly thing to do.
OH SHIT LOL
Jacob’s the temptation Ethan deserves, but not the one Ethan needs right now. So, we’ll ship them, because Ethan can take it. Because he’s not our straight guy. He’s a silent homosexual. A watchful protector. A Jewish Chuck
Just got done watching Dark Knight, couldn’t be helped.
I applaud your adaptation of that line, friend.
“Thank you”
Bravo willis. Bravo.
… So is Jacob a sex addict in this world too, because I want to see Joyce, Ethan and him all form this sort of Anti-sex support group.
Thereby forming the greatest love triangle in the walkyverse!
If by “love triangle” you mean “threesome”.
Joe and Roz will destroy them. XD
FUCKING CALLED IT!!!!
So Jacob is at college. Well, there goes my headcanon of him, Ken, Malaya and Lucy all going to the same high school together.
Alright Ethan I understand your problem and I got your soultion. Just picture Joyce whenever you see some hot dude you wanna bone. After a while, you’ll associate boning with Joyce, and all problems will be solved. I’ll take my money now please.
There are folks actually making fortunes doing exactly that. :-\
Am I the only one who got RuPaul’s “Supermodel” stuck in their head after looking at the last panel?
Nope, but now I do! Thanks! [note, this is not sarcasm. being the internet, it is hard to tell. but that song is hella fun.]
FUCKING I KNEW IT
he was in the poster (you can’t hide from me!), and i was like, i wonder when jacob’s gonna show up but here he is
That last panel reminded me of Giz Lagace’s MenageA3…
Control takes a lifetime to achieve, Ethan.
Bro do you even lift?!
Wondering what Jacob’s adictions are this time…
It would be kind of hilarious if he was a compulsive exerciser (and yes, that is a real thing). Given the nature of his introduction, and Willis’ love of making Ethan suffer, it could totally happen.
He exercises in his room> Boy, if he is a compulsive exerciser, that room is gonna smell really interesting.
Jacob’s chocolate abs are temptation regardless of your sexual preference.
Oh hai Jacob. Fancy meeting you here…Now excuse me while I go find my drool bucket….
PERFECT PLAY. This is why I will follow all the Willis comics forever. The dramatic trap always snaps shut at exactly the right moment, and after the shock wears off you’re left wondering just how long the author waited to reveal this information (or, in some cases, to call back to a clue or joke that is sometimes many years old). I never expected things to be going in the directions they’re going in either comic but this one especially, and I’m totally gripped.
HI JACOB
I’m very happy to see Jacob again. And even though Ethan doesn’t show it, I’m sure he’s happy too.
Man…….you go away for two days and you miss a “SHIP”LOAD of stuff on here, dontcha? lol
TEMPTATION WON.
Why did I NOT see that coming?! *facepalm*
After so much drama, this is, like, the biggest punchline.
The concealing. The non-conspicous absence of a character (who might have been believably absent on account of not playing a big part). The setup. The everything. So very well played.
Oh crap!!!
http://www.dramabutton.com/
I can’t recall, is this Jacob’s first appearance in the DoA universe? Willis has so many universes it seems, so many universes with so much many man chests.
Yes…check the tags!
Ah, Jacob. Well-played, Willis. Epic punchline.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
Also, thank you for the fanservice, Willis.
That was one of the toughest votes I’ve ever had to make.
hahaha Ethan’s gonna have one hell of a hard time with this!
hmmm….. I know how I hope to see Ethan and Joyce’s relationship go down in flames! Ethan and Jacob… and then Mike and Joyce. she already kinda seems to see him as a protector in this universe and he…. seems to have avoided tormenting her. maybe it’s a silly thought…. brought on by a prolonged lack of Mike
Mike willing came with her to a date with someone that he probably knew was a very sex-driven male. He knew he didn’t have to torture her to see her burn down.
I’m slightly confused by Jacob being in college with them; Shortpacked! gave me the impression that he was younger than everyone else by several years.
He’s not the first with a different relative age, though. Robin and Leslie are the same age as the main Shortpacked crew in the Walkyverse. They’ve been aged up several years here, as Robin has to be at least 9 years older than everybody else (became a Representative at 25, and I think she mentioned it’s an election year, in the fall, so she’s been a rep for close to 2 years at least).
They’re whatever age allows them to have the role that it planned for them.
ding ding!
Well, shoot. I forgot this was a COMIC strip for a bit. Still excited for what’s to come!
Haha of course Willis waited until Jacob was introduced into the dumbiverse to put up the hottest male poll.
Todo mal, Ethan.
Todo mal.
Soooo glad you kept Ethan’s roommate a secret until now.
This was the best possible roommate reveal ever, so this is the best possible of all Walkyverses.
Are there any other major characters whose roommates we haven’t seen?
Assuming that Ruth rooms alone, I think that’s everybody.
Looks like she does, considering she drinks in her room and enlists Billie as a drinking buddy that one time.
So, assuming that,
Joyce-Sarah
Danny-Joe
Mike-Walky
Billie-Sal
Amber-Dina
Dorothy-Sierra
Ethan-Jacob
Roz-Mary (Roz has a page on the cast list, and considering the developments going on she’ll probably be reappearing eventually)
Semi-important characters whose roommates we don’t know:
Raidah (Though it seems likely to me either Chan or Char is hers)
Beef (Most important character in all of DoA or the Walkyverse, folks, mark my words)
Burning questions:
Buckets of Blood Guy (He’s not at all important. I just want to know what poor bastard got stuck with him)
It was standard at my college, anyway, for the RA to have a single.
I’m sure that it’s always entirely safe to just ignore Beef. There’s no way that could ever come back on anyone with any lamentable consequences whatsoever.
Were the consequences really that dire? Did anyone, in comic, really seem to care after the fact?
I would say that the consequences were pretty dire for the people who died.
But Beef only killed Guns. Does anyone care about Guns?
I think Beef also has some culpability for the deaths of Mandy and Grace, since he was helping the bad guys get in and out of SEMME. And Daisy and the rest of Squad 48 were pretty broken up about it at the time.
“girl look at that body
tchewwwww
girl look at that body…
I work out.”
I just came here to say that my vote for Jason as one of my two ‘hottest guys’ is Jason with his hair messed up and his bowtie undone, because *that* was the hottest thing ever. I feel like “Jason with his bowtie undone” should be a totally separate option from “Jason,” in fact.
OH MY GOD THE AMOUNT THAT I AGREE WITH YOU
^^;; I think Ethans about to get a good taste of what he made Amber feel like with the whole “my Barn door don’t swing that way” on prom night, because I’m not certain Jacob’s barn door swings THAT way…
yeah unfortunately “trivial” and “manageable” were not the words I had in mind whenever something like this happened to me…
Late to the comments, but . . .
OK, so although Jacob is easy to lust after, I see Ethan falling hard for Danny. He likes Danny’s hair, and Danny probably has that nerdy social awkwardness that can be so endearing. Not act on PSL for a probablynstraight and therefore unattainable hunky roommate? Easy. Not letting yourself fall in love with a sweet, likable guy whose no one else seems to notice? Not so easy.
(Maybe I’m just channeling my own coming-out-to-myself story here . . .)
I ship it. >.> <.<
So, Ethan’s gonna fall for the guy Ambers with?
Oh, god. The awkwardness there would be catastrophic. So of course Willis will do exactly that.
Yay, Jacob! I was wondering if he was ever going to show up. For some reason I thought he would show up as a teacher.
The ongoing punchline through roommate reveal is hilarious. Amazing how many of these David has been sitting on, waiting for the right time.
Jacob makes any temptation unbearable!
David Willis thinks I’m sexy!
(Thanks for the huge drawing of Joyce in my autographed book! I just read it cover-to-cover! The making-of comments are great. I can tell that you put a lot of thought and effort into making a quality strip. Looking forward to Volume Two!)
Off with the socks,
Out with the c*cks!
Every so often I use various pictures in my environment to test out new features I build in to the image editing program I develop as a hobby. This includes Dumbing of Age comics. Normally I wouldn’t bother to post one of my test images, but I felt that it was necessary to share my program’s interpretation of Ethan in the last panel.
Actually, I’ve just decided that I won’t post a link to it; I’ll just make it my gravatar. The current one was getting old anyway. Give me a moment to update.
Hahahahaha, what the shit.
Ha, I think it’s hilarious that Jason is beating Danny AND JOE in the poll! (I voted for Jason ironically, and also because of his name.) Joe just gets no love in these polls.
There are people who think Danny is hot?
Ethan:
“stupid sexy jacob”
http://24.media.tumblr.com/5b11d08fea2148dbbed31a097b148d6b/tumblr_mgunssmF4H1rklwdco1_500.gif
And crunches. Lots of crunches.
Why won’t the poll let me pick Jacob more than once?
Why would you fight that temptation? I mean, that’s the kind of temptation I’d rather not fight. Or fight while covered in oil.
oh yaaaay a re-read has rewarded me with an AMAZING alt-text!!